''Sharky's Machine'' is a 1981 American
neo-noir
Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...
action thriller film
The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...
directed by
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...
, who stars in the title role.
It is the
film adaptation
A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
of
William Diehl's 1978 novel of the same name, with a screenplay by
Gerald Di Pego. It also stars
Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important producti ...
,
Brian Keith
Robert Alba Keith (November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997), known professionally as Brian Keith, was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family ...
,
Charles Durning
Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.Schudel, Matt (December 26, 2012) "''In real life and on the screen, he played countless role ...
,
Earl Holliman,
Bernie Casey
Bernard Terry Casey (June 8, 1939 – September 19, 2017) was an American American football, professional football player and actor. He was a football player and All-America, All-American hurdler at Bowling Green Falcons, Bowling Green State Un ...
,
Henry Silva,
Darryl Hickman,
Richard Libertini
Richard Joseph Libertini (May 21, 1933 – January 7, 2016) was an American stage, film and television actor.
He was known for playing character roles and his ability to speak in numerous accents. His films include '' Catch-22'' (1970), '' The ...
,
Rachel Ward and
Joseph Mascolo.
The film was released by
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
on December 18, 1981, and received mostly positive reviews from critics.
Ward was nominated for a
Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress
The Golden Globe for New Star of the Year – Actress was an award given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at their annual Golden Globe Awards.
History
The award was first introduced at the 5th Golden Globe Awards in 1948 where it was ...
.
Plot
Tom Sharky, a narcotics sergeant for the
Atlanta Police Department
The Atlanta Police Department (APD) is a law enforcement agency in the city of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States.
The city shifted from its rural-based Marshal and Deputy Marshal model at the end of the 19th century. In 1873, ...
, is working on a transaction with drug dealer Highball. Smiley, another member of the force, shows up unexpectedly during the sting, causing the drug dealer to run and Sharky to give chase, ultimately shooting the suspect on a
MARTA bus, after wounding of the bus driver and a passenger. In the aftermath, Sharky is demoted to the
vice squad
Vice Squad are an English punk rock band formed in 1979 in Bristol. The band was formed from two other local punk bands, The Contingent and TV Brakes. The songwriter and vocalist Beki Bondage (born Rebecca Bond) was a founding member of the b ...
, which is considered the least desirable assignment in the police department.
In the depths of the vice-squad division, led by Friscoe, the arrest of small-time hooker Mabel results in the accidental discovery of a high-class prostitution ring that includes a beautiful escort named Dominoe, who charges $1,000 a night. Sharky and his new partners begin a surveillance of her apartment and discover that Dominoe is having a relationship with Donald Hotchkins, a candidate running for the position of the
governor of Georgia
The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's Georgia National Guard, National Guard, when not in federal service, and Georgia State Defense Force, State Defense Fo ...
.
With a team of downtrodden fellow investigators that includes veteran Papa, Arch, and surveillance man Nosh, referred to by Friscoe sarcastically as Sharky's "
machine
A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ...
", he sets out to find where the trail leads. During one stakeout Dominoe is seen having a romantic rendezvous with Hotchkins, who promises her a house to live in after he gets elected. During one of the other stakeouts, a mysterious crime
kingpin known as Victor comes to the apartment. He has been controlling her life since she was a young girl, but now with lasting happiness in her future, she wants out. Victor seemingly agrees, but forces her to have sex with him one last time.
Sharky watches the affair from the rented apartment and is disgusted with what he sees, as he has privately been developing feelings for her while viewing her and listening to the bugged conversations. He begins to dream of a fantasy relationship with her. The next day, Sharky witnesses Dominoe being killed by a shotgun blast through her front door, disfiguring her face beyond recognition. The assassin, known as Billy Score, is a drug addict and the younger brother of Victor. He answers to Victor, as does Hotchkins, who himself is a powerless political stooge under Victor's rule.
When Sharky walks around Dominoe's apartment, to his surprise she suddenly turns up there alive, and when asked where her friend Tiffany is, who Dominoe would lend her apartment from time to time, Sharky comes to the realization that Billy has shot the wrong woman. Meanwhile, Nosh telephones Sharky telling him that most of the surveillance tapes have disappeared from the police station, leaving the pair wondering if the investigation has been compromised. Nosh is then confronted by Billy Score, who kills him off-screen. Realizing it is a matter of time before they both end up dead, Sharky takes a reluctant Dominoe to his childhood home in the
West End neighborhood. Sharky attempts to obtain information about Victor from Dominoe even going as far as assaulting her in frustration when she resists, but he becomes disgusted with himself and lets her be as before.
Still in hiding, Dominoe finds photos of herself from the stakeouts and confronts Sharky about it. His sexual obsession now exposed, the two begin to talk and learn about each other, from Sharky buying his family home several years prior and fixing it up, to Dominoe finally giving Sharky the story about her background, how she was "discovered" by Victor when she was 12 and, been a sexual pawn of his ever since. Sharky confronts Victor at his penthouse apartment in the
Westin Peachtree Plaza and vows to bring him to justice. Victor smugly tells him that Dominoe is dead and cannot testify against him and is stunned to be told by Sharky that she is still alive.
While attempting to find Nosh at his home, two men spring an attack on Sharky, and he is knocked out cold. He awakens on a boat, and is shocked to see Detective Smiley who is determined about Dominoe's location. Smiley, it turns out, is working for Victor. He tells Sharky how he ordered the murders of his old narcotics division superior Joe "JoJo" Tipps and Nosh. Billy Score's henchmen killed Tipps when he threatened to give the District Attorney certain facts of Sharky's latest moves. When Sharky still refuses to squeal, Smiley orders the hitmen from the earlier ambush to cut off two of his fingers. Sharky then manages to escape after killing Smiley and the hitmen. Later Hotchkins, at a political rally celebrating his electoral win, catches glimpses of both Dominoe and Sharky, to the candidate's considerable shock. Hotchkins is arrested and taken into custody, and Victor finds out about it on the evening newscasts.
Billy Score, in a drugged and agitated state, shoots and kills Victor after the two bicker. Almost immediately Sharky and other police officers arrive at the penthouse apartment in an attempt to catch Billy. He is pursued through the upper floors of the Westin, where like a ghostly apparition he appears and disappears, killing Papa and seriously wounding Arch in a dual shootout in which Billy is seriously wounded but is able to get back up again. Billy flees to a section of the building that is under construction where Sharky ultimately finds him. Vowing to kill himself rather than give the police the satisfaction Billy is ultimately gunned down by Sharky, crashes through a window and plummets to his death on the street. In the end Sharky is seen pushing Dominoe on a tire swing at his childhood home, where the two look very happy together.
Cast
*
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...
as Sergeant Tom Sharky
*
Charles Durning
Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.Schudel, Matt (December 26, 2012) "''In real life and on the screen, he played countless role ...
as Lieutenant Friscoe
*
Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important producti ...
as Albert Scorelli / Victor D'Anton
*
Brian Keith
Robert Alba Keith (November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997), known professionally as Brian Keith, was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family ...
as Detective "Papa" Marindo
*
Bernie Casey
Bernard Terry Casey (June 8, 1939 – September 19, 2017) was an American American football, professional football player and actor. He was a football player and All-America, All-American hurdler at Bowling Green Falcons, Bowling Green State Un ...
as Detective Arch Driscoll
*
Rachel Ward as Dominoe Brittain
*
Darryl Hickman as Detective Smiley
*
Earl Holliman as Donald Hotchkins
*
Henry Silva as Carlos "Billy Score" Scorelli
*
Richard Libertini
Richard Joseph Libertini (May 21, 1933 – January 7, 2016) was an American stage, film and television actor.
He was known for playing character roles and his ability to speak in numerous accents. His films include '' Catch-22'' (1970), '' The ...
as Nosh
*
John Fiedler
John Donald Fiedler (February 3, 1925 – June 25, 2005) was an American actor. Recognizable for his high, flutey voice, Fiedler's career lasted more than 55 years in stage, film, television and radio.
Fiedler was typecast beginning ear ...
as Barrett
*
Hari Rhodes as "Highball Mary"
*
Joseph Mascolo as Detective Joe "Jo-Jo" Tipps
*
Carol Locatell as Mabel
*
Tony King as "Kitten" Holmes
* James O'Connell as "Twigs"
*
Suzee Pai as Siakwan
*
Dan Inosanto as Chin #1
*
Weaver Levy as Chin #2
* Aarika Wells as Tiffany
* May Keller as May
* Sheryl Kilby as Lisa
*
Val Avery as Manny, Man With Siakwan
*
William Diehl as Percy Sinclair
*
Bill Nunn
William Goldwyn Nunn III (October 20, 1953 – September 24, 2016) was an American actor known for his roles as Dougy in James Bond III's movie '' Def by Temptation'', Radio Raheem in Spike Lee's film '' Do the Right Thing'', Robbie Robertso ...
as Kitten's Bouncer (uncredited)
*
Dar Robinson as Stunt Performer (uncredited)
Original novel
The film was based on a novel by
William Diehl, a former journalist and producer, which was published in 1978. It was Diehl's first novel, written when Diehl was 53 years old and financially destitute. It sold to Delacorte Press for $156,000 on the basis of a six-page outline and 120 pages. "It's a total fantasy come true," said Diehl.
[WESTWARD THEY COME, BIG BUCKS FOR BIG BOOKS
Rosenfield, Paul. Los Angeles Times 18 Feb 1979: n1.]
The ''Washington Post'' thought the novel "may make a decent movie" but "it tries to be three or four novels at once and manages to be none of them." The book did not become a best seller in hardback but did in paperback.
Production
Development
Film rights were bought prior to publication by the newly formed Orion Pictures in 1978 for $400,000. Burt Reynolds was to star and possibly direct.
"
Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon (February 11, 1917 – January 30, 2007) was an American writer. He was prominent in the 1930s, first working on Broadway plays, and then in motion pictures, notably writing the successful comedy '' The Bachelor and the Bobby-Sox ...
sent me the novel, and I found it highly cinematic," said Reynolds.
Reynolds said he was attracted to the film because it was similar to the classic 1944
film noir
Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
''
Laura'', his favorite movie. He talked to
John Boorman about directing, but Boorman was too busy on ''
Excalibur
Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...
'' and suggested Reynolds direct himself.
"I figured it was time to get away from ''Smokey''," Reynolds said. "I'd been doing a lot of comedy in recent years, and people had forgotten about ''Deliverance''."
[BURT REYNOLDS GOES STRAIGHT' IN SHARKY': IRST EditionBob Thomas Associated Press. Boston Globe 19 Dec 1981: 1.]
Casting
Reynolds says the "key" to the cast was getting Brian Keith to play a role. "After that it was easy to get actors."
Fashion model Rachel Ward was cast in the female lead after being spotted in Time magazine as "the face of the 80s". She was cast six days before filming. Reynolds:
That was like starting King Kong' without the gorilla. I kept saying, She'll turn up, she'll turn up.' Then I saw Time magazine... I wanted an actress who could speak Italian and French, and since she was English, I thought she might have the kind of foreign attitude that I was seeking. When she came in my office and I heard her voice, deep like Bacall's, I thought she would be ideal. But Catherine Deneuve once told me that to judge how a beautiful woman will appear on the screen you must look through the camera and see if it has a love affair with her. I picked up a viewfinder and looked at Rachel. I damn near fell over.
"She's going to be a big star," said Reynolds. "She just jumps off the screen. She has the kind of sensuous appeal that
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' att ...
had."
Shooting
Filming took place in Atlanta from January to March 1981. "I liked the idea of working in Atlanta, where I've spent a lot of time," said Reynolds. "I made ''Deliverance'', ''Smokey'', ''The Longest Yard'' and ''Gator'', my first film as a director, all in Georgia."
At 220 feet, the
stunt
A stunt is an unusual, difficult, dramatic physical feat that may require a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually for a public audience, as on television or in theaters or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Befo ...
from Atlanta's
Hyatt Regency Hotel (doubling for the
Westin Peachtree Plaza) still stands as the highest free-fall stunt ever performed from a building for a commercially released film. The stuntman was
Dar Robinson. Despite it being a record-setting fall, only the beginning of the stunt, as he goes through the window, was used in the film. A dummy was used for the outside wide shot of the fall beside the skyscraper.
Diehl, who was 50 when he wrote the novel, saw the movie shot on location in and around his hometown of Atlanta.
El Mongol played the part of the limo driver in the film.
Reynolds talked about his directing:
Most directors cast actors on the basis of what they've seen before, and they don't want surprises; they want the actor to give another version of what he's already done. I try to do the opposite. I tell the actors, 'You've done that before, so let's go for something else.' On this picture I did with my actors what I always wanted other directors to do with me, which is to say, 'O.K., I have what I want, now you do what you want.' Sometimes magical things happen that way. I had lots of ideas, but I was open to any ideas the actors had. There really was a wonderful feeling of camaraderie.
"In my picture the good guys win and the bad guys, the dopers, lose," said Reynolds. "That's important to me: I don't like dopers. I get mad as hell when I hear that studios are coddling actors who are always high on cocaine."
Reynolds himself battled addiction to painkillers through the 80's and 90's.
Music
The opening credits use the 1979 hit song "
Street Life", originally performed by
The Crusaders with vocalist
Randy Crawford
Veronica "Randy" Crawford (born February 18, 1952) is an American retired jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as a solo artist. However, sh ...
. The recording in the film is a newer version (song length ~4:17) orchestrated by
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen (born July 7, 1927) is an American retired jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''.
Early life
Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) ...
, inviting Crawford to reprise her vocal and who composed the original score, as well. This version is a much more powerful and faster-paced version with a full orchestra, and it was the one that
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...
included in ''
Jackie Brown
''Jackie Brown'' is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on the 1992 novel ''Rum Punch'' by Elmore Leonard. It stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who smuggles money between the United Sta ...
'' (1997) (Crawford is given the only credit on the song title).
As was standard for the time, little of Severinsen's score is included on the album, with many of his contributions being edited for the album tracks and several, like his version of "
My Funny Valentine", being omitted altogether.
The soundtrack album has been re-released after more than 30 years on the
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...
label.
Soundtrack
The ''Sharky's Machine'' original motion picture soundtrack contained these tracks:
# "
Street Life" -
Randy Crawford
Veronica "Randy" Crawford (born February 18, 1952) is an American retired jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as a solo artist. However, sh ...
# "Dope Bust" -
Flora Purim and
Buddy De Franco
# "
Route 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...
" -
The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer was an American vocal group founded in 1969 in New York City, performing music genres like a cappella, Brazilian jazz, Swing music, swing, vocalese, rhythm and blues, Pop music, pop, and standards. They have won eleven G ...
# "
My Funny Valentine" -
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Baker earned much attention and ...
# "High Energy" -
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen (born July 7, 1927) is an American retired jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''.
Early life
Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) ...
# "Love Theme From Sharky's Machine" -
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
# "8 To 5 I Lose" -
Joe Williams
# "
My Funny Valentine" -
Julie London
Julie London (born Julie Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch song, torch singer noted for her contralto voice, London recorded over thirty album ...
# "Sexercise" - Doc Severinsen
# "Let's Keep Dancing" -
Peggy Lee
Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...
# "Sharky's Theme" -
Eddie Harris
Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...
# "Before You" - Sarah Vaughan and Joe Williams
Reception
Critical reception
The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. As of April 2022, review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reports that 83% of 23 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.4 out of 10.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing that "'Sharky's Machine' contains all of the ingredients of a tough, violent, cynical big-city cop movie, but what makes it intriguing is the way that Burt Reynolds ... plays against those conventions.... The result of his ambition and restraint is a movie much more interesting than most cop thrillers."
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...
wrote in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', "Burt Reynolds establishes himself as yet another movie star who is as valuable behind the camera as he is in front of it. Mr. Reynolds's third and best directorial effort ... is an unexpectedly accomplished cop thriller." ''
Variety'' noted, "Directing himself in 'Sharky's Machine,' Burt Reynolds has combined his own macho personality with what's popularly called mindless violence to come up with a seemingly guaranteed winner. Borrowing from buddy
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
, Reynolds has already dubbed this one '
Dirty Harry
''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American action-thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry (film series), ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first appearance as San Francisco Polic ...
Goes To Atlanta' and that's about as good a description as any."
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert.
Siskel started writing for the '' ...
of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and lamented its "unfortunate split personality," explaining, "Obviously, Reynolds decided to hedge his bets in the film and play some of it for laughs. That's too bad, because although 'Sharky's Machine' is miles ahead of such recent Reynolds' trash as '
Smokey and the Bandit II
''Smokey and the Bandit II'' is a 1980 American action comedy film directed by Hal Needham, and starring Burt Reynolds, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Dom DeLuise, Sally Field, Mike Henry (football), Mike Henry, Paul Williams (songwriter), Paul Wi ...
' and '
The Cannonball Run
''The Cannonball Run'' is a 1981 action-comedy film directed by Hal Needham, produced by Hong Kong firm Golden Harvest, and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. Filmed in Panavision, it features an all-star ensemble cast, including Burt Reynolds ...
,' what Reynolds could use most in his career is a solid dramatic role in which he didn't leer at the audience."
Sheila Benson of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' called the film "a brutal, fast-moving cop action film about love, corruption and politics in Atlanta ... Before the picture falls into lunatic excess in its last quarter, its best moments happen between Sharky and his team members, especially his wiretap expert played with impeccable timing by Richard Libertini." Gary Arnold of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' wrote, "'Sharky's Machine' should become the runaway box-office smash of the season, unless a vast moviegoing public has suddenly sworn off glossy, viciously provocative diversion. Directing his own starring vehicle, that sly boots Burt Reynolds gives the audience a shamelessly lurid but stylish going-over, while putting a clever new wrinkle or two on his own status."
Box Office
The film was considered a moderate hit on initial release, making $35.6
million in North America.
Release
''Sharky's Machine'' was released in theatres on December 18, 1981, and on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
on October 20, 1998, by
Warner Home Video
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...
. ''Sharky's Machine'' was released
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
on April 7, 2015, by Warner Home Video.
In Popular Culture
In the TV show
The Venture Bros
''The Venture Bros.'' is an American adult animation, adult animated action comedy television series created by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Following a pilot episode on February 1 ...
, Sharky's Machine is shown on the Venture Family's Station the Gargantua 1, During the Episode, one of the Crew sucked everyone outside into Space, this was later confirmed in Episode 3 of Season 7.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{Burt Reynolds
1981 films
Films based on American novels
Films set in Atlanta
1981 action thriller films
American action thriller films
American police detective films
Films directed by Burt Reynolds
Films about prostitution in the United States
Warner Bros. films
Orion Pictures films
1980s action drama films
American neo-noir films
1981 drama films
1980s English-language films
1980s American films
English-language action drama films
English-language action thriller films